New dorm will be open for fall 2013

New Mexico Tech broke ground on their new dormitory the week after the July 4 holiday.

The construction, approved by the school’s board of regents in July 2011 and made possible by the sale of bonds, will be completed in time for the beginning of the fall 2013 semester. The new dorm is in response to the overflow of students the university has had to deal with in the last few years.

“The demand (for student housing) is there,” said Thomas Guengerich, Tech’s public information officer.

Prospective students looking for housing on campus have been placed on waiting lists the last three years, Guengerich said. And the existing dorms are filled to capacity, according to an NMT press release.

Administrators at Tech also believe on-campus housing is a major factor for student success, according to the press release.

“Our studies have shown that undergraduates who live on campus have a higher rate of success in college,” said New Mexico Tech President Dr. Daniel Hand, according to the release. “Our goal is to ensure that we have ample living space on campus to accommodate all our housing requests.”

The college had a record amount of incoming freshmen in 2011 and the school believes that record will be broken this year as well so a new dorm is a major part of keeping students coming to the local college.

The dorm will cost $6.7 million and be three stories high. The as-yet-unnamed building is expected to house 150 students and have study spaces in each wing and a multipurpose area on the main floor for them, according to a story on the university’s website.

The building will eliminate about 50 feet of grass on the south side of the athletic field, according to the story.

Also, the old child care center was destroyed for additional parking, but the new one, the Macey Family Children’s Center, had its grand opening in April. This center is “much bigger” than the old one, Guengerich said. The center increased its capacity from 32 to 48 children because of the new construction.

“The next construction project is a new Bureau of Geology building, which will cost about $24 million,” Guengerich said in an email about future plans for the university.

The new geology building relies on $18 million from a bond that Socorro residents will have a chance to vote on in November, Guengerich said.